MacBook Pro - Memory, Hard or Solid State

[Elle]

I got some great advice a couple of weeks ago & I'd appreciate further comments as I've increased my budget & buying new.
When selecting an Apple MacBook Pro, I have to decide whether to upgrade the processor, memory & in some cases choose between a hard disk or solid state memory.
Would I notice much difference between a 2.4ghz & a 2.6ghz? Between 8gb or 16gb of memory?
Eg, so far my choices are:
A) MacBook Pro 2.9ghz i7 8gb / 1TB hard disk £1279
Or a MacBook Pro Retina
B) 2.4ghz i5 8gb / 256gb solid state £1249
C) 2.6ghz i5 8gb / 256gb solid state £1329
D) 2.6ghz i5 16gb / 256gb solid state £1489
E) 2.6ghz i5 8gb / 512gb solid state £1499

I want to use it for editing video & maintaining 2 web sites as well as the usual home usage.
Thanks


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[tuftywhite]

Depends how much data you have to store.

SSD's are really quick. I'd go for C,D or E. Hope I've helped narrow it down a bit.

 

[PaulW]

I got some great advice a couple of weeks ago & I'd appreciate further comments as I've increased my budget & buying new.
When selecting an Apple MacBook Pro, I have to decide whether to upgrade the processor, memory & in some cases choose between a hard disk or solid state memory.
Would I notice much difference between a 2.4ghz & a 2.6ghz? Between 8gb or 16gb of memory?
Eg, so far my choices are:
A) MacBook Pro 2.9ghz i7 8gb / 1TB hard disk £1279
Or a MacBook Pro Retina
B) 2.4ghz i5 8gb / 256gb solid state £1249
C) 2.6ghz i5 8gb / 256gb solid state £1329
D) 2.6ghz i5 16gb / 256gb solid state £1489
E) 2.6ghz i5 8gb / 512gb solid state £1499

I want to use it for editing video & maintaining 2 web sites as well as the usual home usage.
Thanks


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

For video editing you will benefit from extra RAM but only marginal improvement with processor speed.
As to solid state drives, they have a finite number of write cycles and do not have the longevity of a hard disc and their longterm reliable storage is much less.
Despite regular backups, this may catch you out one day.

paul

 

[Gigsy]

Ignore the processor upgrade - memory is the key thing and it's best to max it when ordering as you can't upgrade it later.

SSDs are also great when you're copying data over from memory cards, cameras and other devices - it'll also help out when rendering the videos. For my money, I'd go for the 13" MacBook Pro Retina with 2.4gHz processor, 256gb SSD and 16gb RAM (which is exactly the spec I have ). You'll need external discs (which cost peanuts these days) to store your raw video files anyway otherwise you'll fill the hard drive fairly fast so just archive off to that once you're done editing and keep your SSD clear - in my experience, no matter how much storage you have, you fill it up so it's best to go for the fastest storage you can get on the drive you use the most (i.e. the laptop hard disc) and then use the external discs as described above.

 

[bladerunner]

for a lap top I'd go for Solid state rather than hard disc - they are much more resistant to knocks and drops.

 

[DING-DONG]

This will help your budget go much further .
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/171289631842?

1-left so be quick best £3.99 i ever spent .

 

[thauma]

just upgraded a 4 year old (mid 2010) 27" iMac, by adding additional RAM and SSD........ what a difference, definitely worth the money. It makes it better than new (and that was impressive)

 

[beatmeier]

If you move it a lot and will do many startups go for SSD as it reduces the waiting time and as it was said it is not as fragile when it comes to knocks. For huge amounts of Storage get one of these http://store.apple.com/uk/product/HA384ZM/A/lacie-1tb-rugged-thunderbolt-usb-3-hard-drive?fnode=5f ,they can be almost kicked down the street.

if the MacBook stays in the office go for the old fashioned one and safe the Money for petrol.

 

[richie]

C, and an external disk

 

[Damien]

Keep an eye out for a refurbished Mac, they come up regularly, have full warranty and you might be able to go for a higher spec machine.

http://store.apple.com/uk/browse/home/specialdeals/mac

 

[Andy B]

Between 8gb or 16gb of memory?

Forget 16Gb. That's nowhere near enough.

I don't know what you can get in a MacBook Pro, but I would be thinking nothing less than 4 sticks of 8Gb each - especially for HD video editing.

 

[richie]

How does mac do at handling anything over 8GB of ram, I mean can the OS handle it or are you just wasting your money thinking it will be better. Serious question BTW, thinking like a Windows user....

And

When I used to have a MAC, it was cheaper to buy the ram from crucial than from mac.

 

[cookie]

my imac has 12GB all of which gets used fine.

i believe the RAM in a retina macbook is soldered in, so no buying from crucial as i did for the imac.

 

[Andy B]

I went from 8Gb to 32Gb on my iMac and it made quite a difference.

 

[Elle]

Thanks for the comments, I'm looking forward to buying my first Mac!

This will help your budget go much further .
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/171289631842?

1-left so be quick best £3.99 i ever spent .

Thanks, for £4 I decided to give it a shot.


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[tuftywhite]

All RAM gets addressed (used) by Mac OS.

16 GB RAM is a huge amount of RAM, especially in a laptop. Unless you're dong some really heavy duty graphics rendering, 8 or 16 GB should be plenty for some time to come.

 

[DING-DONG]

Thanks for the comments, I'm looking forward to buying my first Mac!



Thanks, for £4 I decided to give it a shot.


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No probs, I'm a newbie to a mac and brought a code from the seller, great saving.

I've not got a clue but i learn quickly.

Apple Magic Mouse

£44.00

APPLECARE PROTECTION PLAN UPLIFT MACBOOK/MACBOOK AIR/MACBOOK PRO 13" (HE CONTRACT)

£40.00



13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display

£895.00

With the following configuration:

• 2.4GHz Dual-core Intel Core i5, Turbo Boost up to 2.9GHz
• 8GB 1600MHz DDR3L SDRAM
• 256GB PCIe-based Flash Storage
• Backlit Keyboard (British) & User's Guide (English)
• Accessory Kit

 

[Elle]

All RAM gets addressed (used) by Mac OS.

16 GB RAM is a huge amount of RAM, especially in a laptop. Unless you're dong some really heavy duty graphics rendering, 8 or 16 GB should be plenty for some time to come.

Using the student discount code, I've ordered a MacBook Pro Retina with thingy & 16GB RAM and 256GB solid state - looking forward to using it!

 

[tuftywhite]

Congratulations, you won't be disappointed. There's clever people on here (like Cookie) who know tons of stuff and will be able to help if you get stuck.